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My Royal Enfield Interceptor 650: Purchase & Ownership Review

25th November 2021, 13:16 by Rahul Nagaraj

It is unlike any other Royal Enfield produced earlier and it is hard to believe that you get such performance at this price.

BHPian NTO recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Introduction

This is the story of yet another Baker's express interceptor on Team-BHP. I would like to take you all through the buying process, honest opinion after riding 5000 Kms and the brotherhood that no brand other than Royal Enfield enjoys in India. I would like to cover my thread in this order:

Before we jump any further, here is a picture of my Interceptor.

I would like to thank aravind.anand who convinced me of the colour and pushed me to take delivery of the Baker's express. He also owns one and here is his ownership review.

I would also like to thank KarthikK for his beautiful thread which actually motivated me in penning my own down.

History of Motorcycles I owned before Interceptor

2008 Balaj Pulsar 200 DTS-i

Being a 90s kid, the Pulsar Mania and the original ad of Pulsar 200 did their fair share of selling for this motorcycle. I had to travel across the town to get my first own motorcycle, The Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTSi. It was available only in the Pro-Biking showroom in Adyar, Chennai. I was insanely in love with the motorcycle and maintained it spotless for 40,000+ km. I got this in 2008 when I was in the second year of my engineering and this was a gift from my parents. I later handed it down to my younger brother in 2013 when I got the first motorcycle with my own money. The Pulsar 200 was a solid motorcycle. At that time, the safety gear meant only the helmet and shoes to me and I never rode the motorcycle without either. Despite meticulous maintenance, the engine of the bike gave up at around 25K kms and I had to replace the cylinder and piston. This was the trigger point towards my next motorcycle. However, the first motorcycle is always special and it will always be remembered. In 2018, after 10 years of having the motorcycle, I sold it to a college kid who was in love with the motorcycle as well.

My Pulsar

2013 Royal Enfield Classic 500 Twin Spark

Before I got the Pulsar, my dad and I were toying around the idea of buying a used Machismo 350. We also contemplated buying a Thunderbird 350 back then. However, The Pulsar 200 itself was a stretch financially for my parents and I did not want to burden them further. When I was earning sufficiently well in 2012, I jumped at the first opportunity to buy a motorcycle with my own money. I went to test ride the hot selling Royal Enfields of that time, the Classic Twins, 350 and 500. Moving up from the Pulsar 200, the 350 did not feel that much powerful. In fact, the bike was underwhelming. The showroom folks had modified the exhaust and it was loud. I loved the sound of the motorcycle but the performance was sub-par. I completed the 350s test ride and took the 500's keys. With a similar expectation in performance, I started off with the bike and I was simply, literally and actually blown off by the torque of this machine. At that point, I decided that this should be my next motorcycle. I booked the motorcycle by paying Rs. 5000 in September of 2012.

Classic was in much demand and the official waiting period of the motorcycle was 6 months. I tried to pull every string possible to get the bike delivered earlier. I had booked a Classic 500 in Chrome and after waiting for 5 months and my persistent visit to the showroom every weekend, I got a Classic 500 in black colour against cancellation by another customer.

I attended a couple of showroom organized rides by the then Southern Motors (now Rudraa motors), Chennai. My major running with the classic was the work commute of 110 km every day. Anna Nagar - Siruseri and Back. The motorcycle was extremely comfortable throughout and was sufficiently powerful for the highway commutes as well. I bought the motorcycle in March'2013 and in August'2013, I got my B - School Admit and had to leave. For the next 5 years, I was in Gurgaon and the bike was used and maintained by my dad and my younger brother. I bought the second motorcycle with my own money in 2016.

The classic was a dream machine for many youngsters at that time. I used to have at least one interaction with other commuters asking about the price, fuel efficiency, top speed etc. It made me feel like a celebrity but, my duration with the motorcycle was very short-lived. It was nothing but a badly timed purchase.

My Classic 500

2016 Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500 Twin Spark

This is the first motorcycle that brought out the true biker in me. While was in Gurgaon, I tried to take the classic there. But, the original RC of the bike was misplaced by my parents and we were unable to find it. When it was concluded that I would not be able to get the classic in Gurgaon, I immediately headed to the Royal Enfield Showroom in Gurgaon and booked a Thunderbird 500 in Marine Blue colour. The waiting period was 1 month and I got the motorcycle delivered on the 26th of July 2016.

The motorcycle was phenomenal and an exceptional tourer. The 20 litres fuel tank translated to 700 km of usable range and I used to re-fuel the Thunderbird only in the second or third fuel stop of other motorcycles that accompanied me on the rides. The engines of the classic and the Thunderbird were tuned slightly differently. The classic used to have an insane torque in the beginning while the Thunderbird had a better mid and top end. Thunderbird cruised effortlessly on the highway at triple-digit speeds and the discs at both ends only added to the confidence levels. The low seat height, the large seats themselves, the tall and wide handlebar everything contributed to a comfortable touring.

I have travelled the length and breadth of Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and so on, on this motorcycle and the motorcycle was rock solid with its reliability. The motorcycle paved its way on the mountains, broken roads, no roads and fine tarmac with sheer grace. This is the reason I brought the motorcycle back with me to Chennai when I relocated in 2018.

My Thunderbird

2017 Honda CBR 250 R - Repsol Edition

My Mom's colleague's son had purchased a 2017 CBR 250 R Repsol edition at good discounts at the BS3 clearance sale, right before the conversion to BS4. The motorcycle was in fabulous condition and had only ~3000 km on its odometer. He had to move to the USA in 2019 and I was asked to sell the motorcycle on their behalf. Here is a turn of events due to which I ended up buying the CBR for myself.

Event 1: My dad had developed an acute shoulder injury and was advised against riding the classic by the doctor.

Event 2: On one of the rides, when I was cruising at close to 100 km/h on the classic, a car suddenly decided to switch lanes and I had to brake in panic. The rear brake was completely useless and I somehow managed to stop the motorcycle, thanks to my lucky stars and riding skills.

Event 3: The CBR was brought to my house to be sold and I casually checked the basics like engine oil, brake, coolant level and took it out for a spin. One thing that was always associated with my motorcycling experience was "vibration" and this one had none. It also climbed up to triple-digit speeds so effortlessly. The motorcycle was nothing but butter smooth.

Event 4: Event 1 and Event 2 lead to the selling decision of Classic. A friend of my Brother was also scouting for a classic 500 at the same time and was in close watch to how well we maintained our motorcycles. He was very interested in buying the motorcycle from us and we finally ended up selling the classic to him.

Event 5: Bought the CBR. Whatever money I realized from the sale of the classic was transferred to my mom's colleague and we bought the CBR for ourselves.

The CBR was a great machine but as I started riding long, I got to realize that the sitting position is slightly committed, the seat is not spacious (little/ no room to move while riding) and the performance started to feel inadequate. I still held on to the motorcycle for one year and ended up selling the motorcycle in 2020 amidst the pandemic when there was little/ no use to the motorcycle.

My CBR

These are the motorcycles that I owned and used significantly. There were other motorcycles in the house including a 2010 Yamaha FZ and my brother's RC 390 (soon to be replaced with a Triumph Trident)

The buying process of Interceptor (a crazy story included)

Prelude

In 2020, we effectively had five two-wheelers. CBR, Thunderbird, My father's Ntorq 125, My Wife's Aprilia SR 150 and my brother's RC 390. We also had three cars, Vento, Punto and the Civic. All the vehicles had absolutely zero running and we decided to start with selling one vehicle. The first pick of the lot was CBR. IT was the only two-wheeler bought used and it would fetch the highest resale value among others. Listed in the morning and the motorcycle got sold in the evening. It wasn't very difficult to bid goodbye to the CBR as it did not have any emotional connection with any of us in the Family.

As soon as I sold CBR around July'2020, the Covid situation started to ease up a bit and the bug to buy a better motorcycle started to trouble me day in and day out. At this point in time, I set a target for myself. If I ride at least 500 km every month, for the next six months, I would go ahead and purchase a motorcycle for myself. If not, I will stay put with the plan. I started to ride solo, as I still did not get the confidence to meet people and slowly started to ride in groups.

Breakfast ride to Kanchanagiri, a small hill station near Chennai

During these rides, I got the opportunity to test other motorcycles like the Interceptor 650, Yamaha R3, The Duke 390 BS4 and so on. As I rode these bikes, my Thunderbird started to feel dated and all the other machines were significantly faster. Also, the difference between the single cylinder and twin (R3 and Interceptor) was evident and I was totally convinced to get a better motorcycle for myself towards the end of 2020. Among R3 and Interceptor, I simply loved the engine note of the R3 beyond 7K RPM and the pull it had. But, the interceptor won the heart with its mad torque low down and almost zero vibrations. There was also an instant connection with the motorcycle and I started to ride it like I have been riding it for years. Not to mention, I also passed my self-challenge and had completed 4500 km in 6 months on two wheels. In addition to all this, riding after months of being locked inside the four walls of the house was refreshing both, physically and mentally.

The actual buying process

When I started with the buying research, I had an open budget initially. This started to cause a lot of confusion. Most nights were sleepless, watching ownership reviews of big bikes in the middleweight category. One thing that struck me was the huge initial investment and approximately Rs. 16 - Rs. 20 per km of upkeep of these big machines. I was not so sure of spending that kind of money as the pandemic had already traumatized the job market and everything in this world was uncertain. This brought me back to my senses and I narrowed it down to two choices. My only intention was to buy a fairly capable motorcycle and tour on it, at least 10K km a year. The Adventure 390 from KTM and The Interceptor 650 from Royal Enfield were shortlisted. I first went to the KTM showroom and I was told that there was no test ride for the 390 and if I wish, I could ride the 250. This is where the run of KTM ended and I was left with only the Interceptor as my choice.

The booking process (also the crazy story)

Interceptor 650 and the GT 650 were selling like hotcakes and the only place where a dealership could make a difference is with the delivery time. With that in mind, I chose the showroom closest to my house, Rudraa motors (formerly known as Southern motors, and I bought my classic 500 earlier from here). I pushed my purchase process till early April and one fine day, I woke up with the thought of just going ahead and booking the motorcycle. Before the showroom could open, I went to my HDFC account to check if I have any loan offers for two-wheelers. To my surprise, I had one with a 15 lacs pre-approved limit and since I needed only 25% of the pre-approved amount, my interest rate was something unheard of in the two-wheeler loan category. I quickly filled up my details and in the final stage, I accidentally clicked disburse button. Rs. 3,22,210 was disbursed to the dealer bank account and I had no choice other than to buy the motorcycle now from this dealer itself. Please note that I haven't even visited the dealership until I transferred the amount nor did I speak to anyone there. The showroom opened at 11 and I was waiting outside. Royal Enfield had just updated the colours in the 650 twin line up and I was blown away by the sunset strip colour. The showroom opened, I explained the crazy stuff I did and the showroom person assisted me with the entire process of booking and I was promised delivery in two weeks.

Two weeks were about to end and I did not get any call from the showroom. I followed up and I was told that it would take another week. This happened for one more week and I lost my patience. I went straight to the showroom to give an earful. That is when I was told that two interceptor 650s were billed for the showroom and they were not sure of the colours and they needed till the end of the day to confirm the colours being shipped. I went to the dealer yard in the night when the bikes were being unloaded. The two colours were Baker's express and Orange Crush. I had a choice to wait for two more weeks or pick one of the two motorcycles available. Again, given the dealer's reputation, I did not want to take chance and wait for two more weeks. I gave in, gave up on my favourite colour and picked the Baker's express.

The Motorcycle was manufactured on 28th April and I did the PDI on 29th April in the yard. All checks passed and I was promised delivery in two working days. The dealership did not get a slot to register the motorcycle on the 30th of April. 1st and 2nd of May was the weekend and the registration happened on the 4th of May. When I called during the day to check about the registration, I was asked to come in the evening to take delivery.

The Delivery

The Interceptor was there with a cute little baby-pink ribbon ready to be delivered. The delivery process was fairly simple and I was explained about the Features (like there were many ) and the service intervals, warranty etc. These are the things I purchased in addition to the motorcycle:

4th and 5th year extended warranty (transferrable to the second owner, if I sell the motorcycle)
3rd Year RSA
Sump Guard
Crash bar - The smaller one
Vehicle cover.

I had also ordered Fork Gaiters and later I realized that this comes standard with the motorcycle. I initially paid for the Gaiters and later received the refund post asking about it.

The dealership experience was nothing to write home about and it was a constant fight to get the motorcycle. The overall dealership experience was as though they were doing me a favour by selling the motorcycle. I had to call and follow up stage by stage, I had to ask for the refund for the Gaiters, I had to call and check the HSRP status, I had to call and check the RC smart card status and the woes continue into service as well. I also had a few heated arguments when the dealership passed a sarcastic comment on me making a mistake and transferring the loan amount to their account and they didn't ask me to book the motorcycle. This happened when I questioned them about the clueless and infinite delay from their end in delivering the motorcycle. I was told that quoting the sales manager, "We didn't ask you to book, you transferred the amount and now you are troubling us." I am also sure to some extent that I was the first person to book the Sunset Strip Interceptor in Anna Nagar and I saw one or two with TN-02 registration running around before I got mine delivered. That one also had the dealership sticker. Similar to how I was allotted with someone else's Baker's express, someone else would get the Sunset Strip that was allocated for me. As much as an Evangelist I was for Southern Motors, Rudra is in direct contrast. I am not sure if this is the culture that Royal Enfield as a company is imparting to their dealerships as they are dealing from a position of power in the market. This is not just with one dealership, I hear the same from other dealerships as well except for the company-owned showroom and service present in OMR, Chennai.

All is well that ends well and I have had nothing but pleasant experiences with the motorcycle since then. As many BHPians believe, a bad dealership experience should not chase us away from buying the vehicle that we like.

Continue reading BHPian NTO's ownership experience for more insights, information & other BHPian comments.

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